Please find the proposal for the International Institute forGender
Studies. After meetings with faculty members and various other
campus programs (Women's Studies and Women in Agricultural
Development), there is now a fairly wide interest and potential
participation. The teaching and research activities given in the
proposal are illustrative and by no means limited only to the faculty
members listed.

We are under the impressions that the Provost will assist us in
bringing in two people for initial discussions. It would be useful to
confirm this and to try to set up some dates during Spring Term.
Could you please advise concerning the next steps?

The fields of Women's Studies, Women and Development (WID) and
Gender Analysis continue to grow as evidenced by research, publications,
conferences and seminars, action interventions (driven by governments and NGOs,
as well as by multilateral and bilateral donors), and student interest. The proposed
Institute addresses these fields of interest and takes a leadership role to (1)
coordinate faculty and programs at the University of Florida and (2) study issues of
importance to academia and federal and international agencies as well as to women
themselves.

Within developed countries, and in many of the developing countries,
numerous universities now have centers and institutes devoted to these fields. In
the United States alone Women's Studies is a thoroughly established discipline at
major universities. In the United States there are over seventy Institutes or Centers
for the study of women's or gender issues (see Appendix 1: Roster of Member
Centers of the National Council for Research on Women). Many of these centers
are focused on Women's Studies alone, while others include WID and Gender
Analysis. Only some are of a comparative and international nature, and cover the
topic cross-culturally as well as across disciplines. There is no such international
and comparative Institute or Center in the State of Florida.

The Institute will enhance the increased international focus at UF as
witnessed by the creation of the Office of International Studies and Programs, which
has provided the impetus for the creation of this proposed Institute. International
and comparative studies promote the multicultural diversity at the university and
make students and faculty more sensitive to a variety of issues, methods and
theories. The subject of Women and Gender Studies is intrinsically international
and cross-cultural, often cutting across large regions of the globe. The two
international, federally-funded regional area studies centers at UF (plus smaller area
studies programs) will therefore be augmented by this Institute which will allow an
opportunity to cut across these programs geographically and in terms of subject
matter. Subjects such as the environment, structural adjustment, health and
population, migration, governance, all of which have gender components, may be
easily considered within the Institute.

RATIONALE

Why is the new structure necessary? First, University of Florida has
significant programs and faculty but, at present, the resources are fragmented and
the institution does not have national and international visibility or the local
organization to do justice to the amount of interest and work that could be done.
Hence, the University is in a poor position to mobilize funds. Second, the two

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programs that exist, the Women's Studies Program (WSP) and the Women in
Agriculture Program (WIAD) have a paucity of resources on the one hand and, on
the other are more narrowly focused on Western Studies and agricultural
development, respectively. The new Institute will build upon these existing
programs (as well as the area studies programs) and reinforce research activities in
other aspects without duplicating or substituting in order to make all efforts more
effective. The Institute will organize research, mobilize resources, and supervise
training programs thereby allowing research and publications to go in new
directions. Such queries as the adoption of technology and how women are by-
passed or included, social issues concerning the increase of female-headed families
(which now approach being a third of all families worldwide), the problems of
various categories of women such as migrants and refugees, health care issues
(including topics of teenage pregnancy, AIDS and the elderly), and socio-economic
and political considerations of gender relations in the family and in society, etc. will
be targeted. Finally, the Institute will give visibility and organization to faculty and
students (regardless of their gender) working on gender studies and women's
studies from various disciplines thereby enabling them to be in a better position to
mobilize external funding. The budget for the Institute is seen as an investment to
leverage much larger funding for research and training activities.

The rationale for this Institute includes, but is not limited to, the following
elements: (1) the increasing and diversified research and publications on the subject
within the scholarly community, often of an interdisciplinary and comparative
nature; (2) the increasing sophistication of the field in terms of theory and analysis;
(3) the increasing interest by international, public and private (including
foundations) sectors on the issues; (4) the increasing student interest; (5) the large
number and high quality of persons involved in working on the topic; (6) the
promotion of multicultural diversity within the university community; and (7) the
concern for equity and efficiency within all segments of the university community.

The number of journals (e.g., Signs, Feminist Studies, Women's Review of
Books, Women's International Quarterly, Women and Natural Resources) as well
as the amount of scholarly research and publications have increased geometrically
in the last four decades (see Appendix 2 for a list of journals in Women's Studies
alone). The field has become known worldwide and virtually all disciplines in the
social sciences, humanities, health sciences, production sciences, etc, treat the
subject of women and gender as a standard category and generally also have
women's associations or caucuses. Similarly, publishing houses treat the subject as
a standard category.

The number of students, both men and women, who are interested in the
field of Women and Gender Studies is growing for reasons based on domestic and
international social problems, personal interest and employment potential.
Similarly, the changing face of the workplace in terms of its personnel is another
factor. There has been an increase in the number of women and minority scholars
doing research, teaching and publications in this area. Along these lines, a focus on

human rights demands looking at gender subordination in its different racial and
cultural forms.

The field has moved from a purely descriptive one to one having an
analytical focus. The need for a comparative basis is given, for example, in the
assumption that the sources of women's subordination are the same all over:
comparative work disavows this assumption. Within the field, various theories
and models have been proposed in the discussions on political economy and on
different approaches (welfare, equity, poverty, efficiency, and empowerment). There
has been a growth in depth and theory, and within theory itself there are diversified
approaches, both cross-culturally and across disciplinary lines. WID and Gender
Analysis in particular, find support in terms of interventions and project
implementation that is being funded by donors and foundations.

OBJECITVES AND GOALS

The objectives of the Institute are to: (1) provide leadership and guide the
growth of various international and comparative programs and studies dealing
with the subject of women and gender on the campus; (2) conduct research and
training concerning issues on women and gender; and (3) bridge the gap between
academic and real world activities as they relate to projects and interventions,
nationally and internationally. The latter includes involvement in responding to
RFPs and outside funding.

The goals of this Institute are to

(1) coordinate UF's activities and programs on women, WID and gender
issues as they relate to teaching, research and outreach/service;
(2) organize and carry out high level research and respond to proposals of an
international nature; and
(3) provide training and policy advice to state, federal and international
agencies involved with the issues.

ACTIVITIES AND FUNDING

The proposed Institute aims to foster the development of curriculum,
research, and outreach/service/conference activities from an international and
comparative perspective. The following are some of the major activities proposed
and phased out during the next two years.

Curriculum

--Certificates: Currently there is a Certificate in Women in Development
with an emphasis on social sciences and agriculture. It is envisaged that there can be
others developed related to the professional schools, e.g., law, education and health.

--Visiting Faculty. Using funding sources such as the National Science
Foundation, faculty will be brought to UF to teach courses and carry out research. At
present, there is a proposal to NSF to bring Dr. Elsa Chaney to UF for two years. The
title of the proposed project is "The Ages of Woman: A Study of Three Generations
in Cross-Cultural Perspective". Disciplines most relevant to the proposed research
are Anthropology, Sociology (Gerontology) and Political Science. Dr. Chaney would
be teaching courses while in residence. The amount requested is $183, 926.

Course Development Once the Institute is constituted, it would be possible
to apply for a FIPSE/US Department of Education Grant to upgrade secondary and
college curriculum in international and gender studies. Faculty members at UF and
selected Florida secondary institutions would be targeted for curricular
development. Methods to accomplish this would be through teacher-training
workshops; model development by UF faculty; and faculty development training
workshops. A DuPont grant might assist in the latter to add in he development of
multicultural diversity, and inclusion of issues of equity and gender, in appropriate
UF courses

Research
The following is a partial listing and illustrative of some of the research that is
proposed by interested faculty.

--Seminar on Women and Structural Adjustment Organized by Dr. Helen
Safa, Anthropology, to be held at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico in July 1993,
this will involve five UF Faculty members ( Drs. Uma Lele--Food and Resource
Economics and Director, ISP, Anita Spring--Anthropology, Christina Gladwin--Food
and Resource Economics, and Ivonne Audirac--Urban Planning, plus Dr. Safa). The
seminar will include an additional 10 participants, mostly from Latin America, to
discuss comparative results of research methodologies and policy alternatives to
Structural Adjustment and its effects on poor women in Third World countries.
Funding will come from Sponsored Research at UF, the University of Guadalajara
and the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology. Dr. Gladwin and
Prof. Audirac are funded from the North-South Center.

--Dr. Chris Andrew, Food and Resource Economics, and others at UF and the
University of Veracruz will be looking at the Agreement in terms of its
impact on cost of production. Also envisaged are the gender implications in

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the state of Veracruz, Mexico vis-a-vis labor management, and household
income. (Funding as part of the Latin America and Caribbean initiative
under President Lombardi).

--Drs. Christina Gladwin, Food and Resource Economics and Yvonne
Audirac, Urban Planning, are looking a the impact of the agreement on
Mexican farmers and small businesses, especially women farmers and
entrepreneurs, and on women who work in assembly (maquila) plants for the
export of manufactured goods.

--Cross-cultural studies of rural families as a result of male outmigration
from rural areas in terms of female headedness, effects on household labor patterns,
children's education, and male income contributions in six cultures. Dr. Anita
Spring, Anthropology, will be applying for funding from various foundations and
the WID Office of USAID. Professor Nancy Dowd, Law School, will also be
considering this topic in terms of the legal and policy aspects.

--Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Russia Issues of gender in terms of
politics, demographics (mortality, birth and marriage rates), and literature are being
researched by Dr. Halina Stephan, Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures,
and Dr. Maria Todorova, History.

--Linguistics/language and Gender. Four separate international research
endeavors are envisaged on:

--Sexual Harassment in a Cross-Cultural Context. Drs. Diana Boxer, and
Andrea Tyler, both of Linguistics, are currently seeking funding for a large
study involving perceptions of harassment cross-culturally.

--Language and Gender, specifically related to the effect of sexism in European
languages on perceptions of other cultures and the effect of such perception
for international relations, including development, is being prepared by Dr.
Martha Hardman, Anthropology.

--Oral History of Hausa Women in terms of definitions and manipulations by
women and men within Islam and within economic and educational
spheres. Also, the national women's movements and their alliances with
political parties. Dr. Barbara Cooper, History, is currently working with
materials with language implications and will be applying for grants.

--Japanese language/ culture and gender issues are being studied by Drs. Ann
Wehmeyer and Yumiko Hulvey, African and Asian Languages and
Literatures.

--Women and Transportation. Currently being formulated by, Professors
Maria Gurucharri, Landscape Architecture, and Yvonne Audirac, Urban Planning,
these topics will focus on major centers, rural and urban services and women's
participation.

--Woman and Health Issues including AIDS. An example of current interest
is given in a recent letter from Dr Limacher (Appendix 4) in which she supports the
formation of an Institute and would put her medical research grant under its
auspices.

Confernces

This is a schedule for conferences in the next two years.

--International Perspectives on Women and Politics In conjunction with
Women's Studies

--Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium will be held in
Gainesville at UF in October 1993. Dr. Anita Spring, Anthropology, is chair of the
Association's Steering Committee. WIAD co-directors, Drs. Peter Hildebrand, Food
and Resource Economics, and Sandra Russo, International Studies and Programs,
are also on the Steering Committee. Gender issues is one of the major topics of the
of the Symposium.

--Women, Religion and the Church is topic being considered by Drs. David
Hackett and Vasuda Narayanan, both of Religion, and Dr. Deidre Crumley,
Anthropology

--The Women in German Conference is a national scholarly association
which will be hosted by UF for three years with arrangements being made by Dr.
Helga Kraft, Director Women's Studies and Germanic and Slavic Languages and
Literatures.

Outreachf/Extension

--Mentoring Program for Women International Students The office of
International Students and Scholars Services under Ms. Margaretha Micha has
expressed interest in this endeavor, as well as in a program for foreign student
wives.

Examples of several past conferences, research grants and visiting scholars may
serve as models of activities that will take place under the auspices of the Institute
(Appendix 3). (It should also be mentioned that a fairly extensive amount of
publications by faculty members have been produced, and the Institute will
encourage and enhance these endeavors.)

It is anticipated that outside funding sources for the Institute could be
solicited from USAID (especially the WID office), UNIFEM and Foundations such as
Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and MacArthur.

WORKING WITH OTHER PROGRAMS

The proposed Institute is envisaged as a campus-wide program and will
report to International Studies and Programs. The Institute will work together with
the Women's Studies Program and the Women in Agricultural Development
Program. Each will retain its own leadership, reporting structure and budget. These
programs and the Institute will overlap in terms of sharing speakers, conferences,
and program activities and in sharing joint funding on specific endeavors. The
Institute will broaden the scope of these two currently existing programs by
examining gender issues in a comparative framework (including third world
countries and persons of color in the U.S.) and by reaching beyond agricultural
development to other fields as well (e.g., law, health, social sciences, education,
communications).

The Women's Studies Program (WSP)

The WSP was initiated in 1974 under the auspices of the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences. Housed in a suite of offices in Anderson Hall, it is funded by
CLAS, with a director (currently, Dr. Helga Kraft), a 0.75 FTE secretary and 2 work
study students (Funding for two graduate students to teach classes during Fall term,
1992, has just been obtained from the Graduate School.) Fund-raising in
conjunction with the Friends of Women's Studies is being carried out for student
scholarships. The WSP has both undergraduate and graduate teaching programs. It
offers an undergraduate major, minor and certificate, and a graduate minor. In
addition to coordinating and/or cross-listing all disciplinary courses on women and
gender at UF, it sponsors both interdisciplinary undergraduate courses and graduate
seminars on Women's Studies. Approximately 10 graduate and 25 undergraduate
courses are currently listed.

There are currently over 82 Women's Studies Faculty members (Appendix 5
from all colleges at UF. In terms of the proposed Institute, WS has coordinated ad
hoc and advisory committees (Appendix 6 to assist in its formation.

Besides the teaching programs, WS carries out a wide variety of service and
outreach activities including: producing a quarterly newsletter; conducting
conferences, seminars and roundtables; maintaining a library; organizing and
mounting art exhibitions; and providing community service to secondary schools.
The WSP also coordinates Women's History Month in conjunction with the
Women Studies Association, a national organization.

In terms of research endeavors, WS has worked with other campus Centers to
bring in visiting scholars, has had small research and development grants and has
facilitated networking among faculty. A current grant ($7,400) is for the WS library.
A projected project is to bring in international filmmakers for a the annual
symposium in 1993. WS will host the Southeastern Women's Studies Association
Conference in April, 1993 (see Appendix 7 for program in place).

Women in Agricultural Development Progran(WIAD)

WIAD was formed in 1983 and is a campus-wide program, currently directed
by Drs. Peter Hildebrand and Sandra Russo and has over 28 active faculty members
(Appendix 8. WIAD's purpose is to promote understanding of (1) the effects of
gender roles in agricultural production practices and (2) agricultural development
processes and their impacts on women. External funding has been obtained from
USAID and Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and internal funding from the
Centers for Latin America and Africa and International Program (IFAS). WIAD has
held a major international conference, produced publications and held training on
gender analysis. WIAD also has produced an extensive bibliography of the literature
(on disk and in hard copy).

WIAD's current programs include a quarterly newsletter and a Speaker Series
where twice monthly there are sessions on a wide variety of fields, addressing issues
concerning women or gender in agricultural development. Once a year, a forum is
organized to address a particular area relating to women and development. For
example, in 1992, WIAD co-sponsored a forum on Women and Politics in the 1990s
with the WSP.

In 1992, WIAD and the International Training Division (ITD) of IFAS held a
seminar on Gender Analysis Training which trained graduate students and faculty
in gender analysis methodology and training techniques. ITD also offers gender
analysis training on a fee basis. With support from the Graduate School and IFAS,
WIAD offers two assistantships per year, allowing students to pursue studies in
women and agricultural development and providing administrative support to the
WIAD program.

A concentration on WID consisting of 12 credits at the Masters and Doctoral
level was approved by the Graduate Council in May, 1992, and will commence with
Fall Term 1992. Approximately 15 courses (including 10 non-WSP courses) have
been identified as having WID content.

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INITIATION OF THE INSTITUTE

The Institute will gain initial impetus by a bringing to UF two people with
experience in operating similar centers/institutes for several days of intensive
discussions. Some of the suggested candidates are:

The International Institute for Gender Studies (IIGS) is a campus-wide program
reporting to International Studies and Programs (IS&P) that interacts with
Women's Studies Program (WSP) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and
the Women in Agricultural Development Program (WIAD) in the College of
Agriculture. These separate programs will overlap in terms of sharing speakers,
conferences, and program activities and in joint funding of specific endeavors.